T.G.I.T.: Blue Ridge gets first win with Thursday night shutout of Carolina
Blue Ridge players and cheerleaders celebrate after Thursday’s 49-0 triumph over Carolina.
John Boggs took a long look around. He wanted to soak in the moment as much as he could.
Blue Ridge’s third-year head coach watched as his players embraced and danced with Tiger cheerleaders. Just behind the commotion, he saw proud parents and Tiger supporters cheering loudly from the stands. Boggs smiled.
The winless weight was finally off their shoulders.
At long last, Blue Ridge (1-7, 1-1 region) got its first victory of the season Thursday, clobbering Carolina 49-0 on the Trojans’ senior night. The win clinched the Tigers a Class AAA playoff spot.
“I’m so proud of these kids. They play hard and they go to work every week,” said Boggs. “And it isn’t easy. When you’re losing and you’ve lost some close games, it starts wearing on you during the season. These kids have shown back up every Monday ready to work. I’m glad to see them get rewarded.”
Tigers’ running back KB Henderson again led the charge, rushing for 116 yards and three touchdowns on just 11 carries. His six-yard touchdown plunge in the second quarter opened the game’s scoring.
After fellow running back Bryson Wyatt pushed the Tigers’ lead to 15-0, Henderson’s 22-yard scamper to the end zone on fourth down gave Blue Ridge a 22-0 halftime lead.
Henderson’s final touch of the day — a 55-yard touchdown rush — capped the scoring for the Tigers late in the fourth.
“My standard is that I’ve got to show up for my team every week,” said Henderson. “It may be a big deal for some people to play like this, but for me, that’s just got to be an every game type of thing for me.”
And so far, it has been.
Henderson’s three touchdown runs brought him to 14 total through eight games. He’s over 1,000 yards rushing already, too.
Blue Ridge running back KB Henderson rushed for 116 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Tigers to their first win. He has over 1,000 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2023.
Before the year began, Henderson aimed to make up for lost time after a broken hand kept him out his entire sophomore year. His junior season has delivered.
But Henderson isn’t satisfied with himself yet.
“I feel like I haven’t really played my best yet,” he said. “I’m still ready to hit that next-level KB. I don’t feel like I’ve hit that yet.”
EASY DOES IT
Blue Ridge’s offense was clicking in every facet on Thursday night, as well. It wasn’t just Henderson.
In his first start of the season at quarterback, Colton Clouse wasn’t asked to do much through the air. The junior completed just three passes on six attempts. Clouse made the most of those three completions, however. Two went for touchdowns.
In the third quarter, Clouse found tight end Emerson Steenrod for a 15-yard touchdown strike. That gave the Tigers a 29-0 cushion.
On the following drive, a deep ball from Clouse somehow found its way into the grateful arms of wide receiver Asheton Stokes. A Trojan cornerback looked to have a clear interception as the lofted ball was underthrown down the left sideline, but the pass went straight through his hands. Stokes took it the rest of the way. 36-0 Tigers.
Clouse’s final line? 3-of-6 passing for 84 yards and two touchdowns. 11 rushes for 64 yards.
Not too shabby for a starting debut.
“It felt awesome. I didn’t have to do much, either. The coaches didn’t put much pressure on me,” said Clouse. “I’m just thankful to be trusted in there leading the offense. The whole team shined out there.”
“I thought Colton came in for his first start at quarterback and did a great job,” said Boggs. “He did a good job commanding the offense and being a leader on the field. He’s a cool customer, cool-hand Luke back there. Nothing really rattles him.”
Clouse took over the starting quarterback role from Gavin Forrester last week after Forrester, unfortunately, suffered a broken collarbone against Broome. Forrester is ruled out for the year, so it’s Clouse’s offense now.
“I hate it for Gavin. I hate seeing him go down the way he did and getting hurt,” said Clouse. “But I know I’m ready to step in and do the best I can for this team.”
DEFENSIVE DOMINATION
For a defensive unit that’s left Boggs asking plenty of questions this season, they sure seemed to find some answers Thursday night.
They allowed Carolina just 191 total yards of offense. The Tigers dominated the line of scrimmage. They also came away with two interceptions, the second of which Ty’Korian Campbell ran back 88 yards for a touchdown.
Perhaps the most impressive stat? Just 80 yards rushing given up by a Tiger defense allowing nearly 300 rushing yards allowed per game.
Giving up an average of 48 points heading into the game, the Tigers kept the Trojans off the scoreboard entirely.
“We didn’t really come in expecting to do that,” said Boggs of pitching a shutout. “We just wanted to play well. [Carolina’s] got some playmakers on offense, and for us to keep them contained and make plays defensively, that was a lot of fun.
“We were really embarrassed the last non-region game we played [74-34 loss to Landrum.] That was a wake up call for us on defense. We made some strides last week against Broome, but it came around even more tonight.”
Tigers’ junior linebacker Eli Smith was arguably the biggest standout on defense Thursday. He was everywhere on the field, collecting 13 tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and an interception. Smith’s second-quarter pick flipped the momentum, as the Trojans were driving deep in Blue Ridge territory before Smith stepped up. He returned the attempted screen pass inside the Trojan 35-yard line.
“We’d been working on covering screen passes all week in practice, and our scout team did an amazing job preparing us for that kind of play,” said Smith.
Smith said he felt his defense’s performance Thursday was a statement.
“I think a lot of players on our team are realizing that we can stop anybody when we’re playing out best,” said Smith. “We’ve had to prove to people that we aren’t just some scrub defense. I think we’ve done that these past couple games.”
UP NEXT
Blue Ridge welcomes Chapman (7-1, 2-0 region) to Jim Howard Stadium this Friday night for Senior night. With a playoff spot locked up for the Tigers, they’ll look to pull off an upset over the Panthers and try to earn a higher seed.
Boggs knows it won’t be easy.
“Chapman’s a really, really good football team, maybe the best in our region. It’s been that way for a while,” said Boggs. “They do a heck of a job. They’re well-coached and have fantastic athletes all over the field.
“We’ll get to work and put our nose to the grind. We’ll get a plan together. But we’re going to enjoy this one tonight and then get ready for that one.”
THE SCORE BY QUARTERS
BR 0 22 14 13 - 49
Carolina 0 0 0 0 - 0
Second Quarter
7-0 - KB Henderson 6 Yd Run (Mitch Bobbitt Kick)
15-0 - Bryson Wyatt 21 Yd Run (KB Henderson Run For Two-Point Conversion)
22-0 - KB Henderson 22 Yd Run (Mitch Bobbitt Kick)
Third Quarter
29-0 - Emerson Steenrod 15 Yd Pass From Colton Clouse (Mitch Bobbitt Kick)
36-0 - Asheton Stokes 58 Yd Pass From Colton Clouse (Mitch Bobbitt Kick)
Fourth Quarter
42-0 - Ty’Korian Campbell 88 Yd Interception Return (Mitch Bobbitt Kick No Good)
49-0 - KB Henderson 55 Yd Run (Mitch Bobbitt Kick)
BLUE RIDGE STATS
Passing: Clouse 3-6 84 yds 2 TDs
Rushing: Henderson 11 carries 116 yards 3 TDs | Wyatt 6 carries 66 yards TD | Clouse 11 carries 64 yards
Receiving: Stokes 1 rec 58 yds TD | Steenrod 1 rec 15 yds TD | Allen 1 rec 11 ydsJohn Boggs took a long look around.